Despite Un, U.s. Commander Vows To Shield Refugees In South Iraq

April 25, 1991|By Liz Sly , Chicago Tribune.

SAFWAN, IRAQ — The commander of American forces in southern Iraq pledged Wednesday to offer indefinite protection to Iraqi refugees at a ceremony intended to mark the handover of the area to the United Nations.

Col. Bill Nash, commander of the 3rd Armored Division`s 1st Brigade, said his forces would not abandon Iraqi refugees who fled the regime of Saddam Hussein, throwing into confusion the status of the UN mission in the area and the cease-fire agreement with Iraq that provides for the U.S. to withdraw once the UN moves in.

The ceremony took place under a scorching midday sun at the same desert position just north of the Iraqi border where Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf met Iraq`s defeated generals to lay down terms for a cease-fire.

Before the ceremony, Nash said the 5,000 U.S. troops still in southern Iraq would not abandon the refugees as long as they need protection from Iraqi authorities.

``The great soldiers who fought Desert Storm are now here helping folks,`` he said. ``We will continue to protect the refugees and conduct our operations in the area.``

After the U.S. flag was lowered and folded, Nash took it, turned to Gen. Gunther Greindl, commander of the UN force, and announced, ``We will continue to protect the refugees.``

Then he sped away, leaving the post in UN hands. But his jeep headed north-toward Iraq-and not south in the direction the U.S. troops are supposed to be withdrawing, making it clear that for now the UN`s presence is little more than symbolic and the U.S. retains control of the area.

But moments later, Greindl said U.S. forces, as well as Iraqi troops, would have to leave the area as soon as the UN deployment is complete. That could be as soon as two weeks, he said.

``Once we have completed our deployment, the coalition forces will withdraw,`` he said.

The mission of the 1,440 memberobserver force, known by its acronym UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq Kuwait Observer Mission) is to make sure no military activity takes place in the so-called demilitarized zone, which stretches 5 miles into Kuwait and 10 miles into Iraq. On Wednesday the force established three of 12 planned observer positions.

Greindl stressed that the UN force has neither the power nor the mandate to protect the 20,000 refugees in the area but said that the UN cease-fire calls for the departure of all American and Iraqi forces from the zone as soon as the UN force is fully deployed.

If Greindl is right, in the coming two or three weeks American forces will be gone whether or not an arrangement has been made to protect the refugees.

The two statements could not be reconciled. Both the UN and the U.S. seem to be hoping that some form of solution will have been brokered with the Iraqi authorities that will guarantee the refugees` safety.

The refugees claim that a U.S. withdrawal would leave them at the mercy of Saddam Hussein`s secret police. It is unfair, they say, that the U.S. should abandon refugees in the south while offering to protect those in northern Iraq.